<\/p>
Earewigs are \u00a0nocturnal insects, who like to crawl into small dark crevices during the day. Although they do have wings they don\u2019t like to fly. One of their defining features are their pincers.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s uncertain but the forceps (technically called cerci) may offer a pinch defence \u2014 which is not painful, but may startle. Or they could help with the complex origami-fan-style folding of the membranous flight wings. They might also be used in courtship as the male\u2019s are rounded whilst the female\u2019s are narrow.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> A female earwig stands guard over her clutch of eggs, palpating them with her antennae and periodically licking them. This seems to offer protection from predators and also prevents the growth of fungi and mould. She maintains this motherly protection until the nymphs have hatched, helping them exit the egg shells and providing them with food.<\/p>\n Old English ear-wicga (ear-wiggler), is similar to perce-oreille<\/i> (French for ear-piercer), \u00f8rentviste<\/i> (Danish for ear-twister), and ohrwurm<\/i> (German for ear worm). They crawl into tight spaces behind loose bark, between fence slats and under logs, but there is an oft-told tale of a homeless person reporting to experts that if you have a mind to sleep under a hedge then they might sometimes crawl into your earhole.<\/p>\n Main image: Getty Images<\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By BBC Wildlife Magazine Published: Monday, 17 October 2022 at 12:00 am What are earwigs? Earewigs are \u00a0nocturnal insects, who like to crawl into small dark crevices during the day. Although they do have wings they don\u2019t like to fly. One of their defining features are their pincers. What do earwigs use their pincers for? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21551,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/earwigs-what-they-are-and-why-they-have-pincers-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By BBC Wildlife Magazine Published: Monday, 17 October 2022 at 12:00 am What are earwigs? Earewigs are \u00a0nocturnal insects, who like to crawl into small dark crevices during the day. Although they do have wings they don\u2019t like to fly. One of their defining features are their pincers. What do earwigs use their pincers for?…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/21550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}More fascinating insecrt facts<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\u00a0<\/span>How do earwigs care for their young?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Can \u2013 and do \u2013 earwigs really enter your ears?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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